Creating RAID1 array on existing K8V SE Deluxe system

[WiscoBez]

Apologies up front for errors in terminology or usage - I'm a newbie
to the inside of my PC, but am working hard to learn! I just purchased
a "white box" machine running a K8V SE Deluxe mobo (with the FastTrack
378 RAID controller) and a Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 200Gb PATA HD,
connected to the primary IDE connector.

I want to setup a RAID1 array, but don't want to use another PATA
drive, since I'll have to connect it in a master/slave configuration
with the existing drive. (The Promise controller on this mobo has only
1 IDE RAID connector). I know that performance will suffer b/c both
drives will share the same cable. The solution? The second drive must
be SATA! (The Promise controller also supports 2 SATA RAID connectors)

I'm hoping for 2 pieces of information:
First, confirmation from somebody that understands this stuff that my
mobo will support the 1xPATA, 1xSATA configuration. (I've read the
manual 3 times, and numerous postings on this topic, but still have a
few nagging doubts).

Second - In order to create the RAID array, I'm going to have to
connect the new SATA drive to the PRI_SATA RAID connector. That seems
straightforward. BUT, I'm also going to need to disconnect my
existing PATA drive from the PRI_IDE connector and reconnect it to the
IDE RAID connector (labeled PRI_RAID). I'm concerned that my machine
will freak out when it doesn't find my drive on the Primay IDE and
will fail to boot. If that happens, I'm in way over my head!!

thanks for any thoughts or suggestions!

 

[Paul]

Apologies up front for errors in terminology or usage - I'm a newbie
to the inside of my PC, but am working hard to learn! I just purchased
a "white box" machine running a K8V SE Deluxe mobo (with the FastTrack
378 RAID controller) and a Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 200Gb PATA HD,
connected to the primary IDE connector.

I want to setup a RAID1 array, but don't want to use another PATA
drive, since I'll have to connect it in a master/slave configuration
with the existing drive. (The Promise controller on this mobo has only
1 IDE RAID connector). I know that performance will suffer b/c both
drives will share the same cable. The solution? The second drive must
be SATA! (The Promise controller also supports 2 SATA RAID connectors)

I'm hoping for 2 pieces of information:
First, confirmation from somebody that understands this stuff that my
mobo will support the 1xPATA, 1xSATA configuration. (I've read the
manual 3 times, and numerous postings on this topic, but still have a
few nagging doubts).

Second - In order to create the RAID array, I'm going to have to
connect the new SATA drive to the PRI_SATA RAID connector. That seems
straightforward. BUT, I'm also going to need to disconnect my
existing PATA drive from the PRI_IDE connector and reconnect it to the
IDE RAID connector (labeled PRI_RAID). I'm concerned that my machine
will freak out when it doesn't find my drive on the Primay IDE and
will fail to boot. If that happens, I'm in way over my head!!

thanks for any thoughts or suggestions!

I would install the 20378 RAID driver on the PATA disk before moving
it. Otherwise, just follow the instructions in the manual. Section
5.6.2 has the FastBuild instructions. "Creating a Security Array with
Existing Drive Data" tells you what to do to copy the PATA to the SATA
drive in the defined array.

You would be well advised to make a backup of the original disk
before doing any of this. The thing is, if you construct a mirror,
the mirror still doesn't protect you against all failure conditions.
For example, imagine the +12V supply on the power supply goes nuts
and burns out both RAID drives at the same time. You still need an
off-line backup strategy to protect against physical perils.

In fact, I would recommend to you, that you _NOT_ start your RAID
experiments with the boot disk. Buy another spare hard drive, and use
it to construct a PATA+SATA array first. Then, the array has no
valuable data on it. You can practice what to do when a mirror fails,
by taking one of the RAID disks off the array interface and erasing it
to simulate a failure. You need experience deleting and rebuilding
arrays, to become comfortable with RAID mirroring, and an empty array
makes that easy.

Once you feel comfortable with all aspects of administering the
mirror, then it is time to move the PATA boot drive over, and
make your copy. Now, you can use the "spare" drive you purchased,
and turn it into your "backup" drive. Using Drive Image, Ghost, or
other imaging software, backup the PATA boot disk to the "spare"
disk, then disconnect the "spare" disk and put it in a safe place.
Then, you can move the PATA drive over to the 20378. You can
setup the PATA+SATA array knowing your data is safe, even if you
make a mistake when doing the copy step.

Other posters have come here, asking questions about how to break
a mirror, and "can I delete the array without losing my data". The
time to learn these valuable lessons, is while the array has nothing
of value on it. Practice with an empty array until you feel
comfortable with it.

HTH,
Paul

 

[WiscoBez]

In fact, I would recommend to you, that you _NOT_ start your RAID

experiments with the boot disk. Buy another spare hard drive, and use
it to construct a PATA+SATA array first. Then, the array has no
valuable data on it. You can practice what to do when a mirror fails,
by taking one of the RAID disks off the array interface and erasing it
to simulate a failure. You need experience deleting and rebuilding
arrays, to become comfortable with RAID mirroring, and an empty array
makes that easy.

Paul - Thanks for all the suggestions, but especially the above. I'm
willing to spend a little more money for the security (and the
learning experience) that this idea will provide. Into the breach!